#i use that term loosely just saying

[valewritessss]

When people say Annabeth was an unreliable narrator and her stepmom was actually nice to her…

[skrunksthatwunk]

actually i'm still thinking about the moral orel finale.

he has a cross on his wall. do you know how much i think about that bc it's a lot.

a lot of stories ((auto)biographical or fictional) centering escape from abusive/fundamentalist christianity result in the lead characters leaving behind christianity entirely. and that makes complete sense! people often grow disillusioned with the associated systems and beliefs, and when it was something used to hurt them or something so inseparable from their abuse that they can't engage with it without hurting, it makes total sense that they would disengage entirely. and sometimes they just figure out that they don't really believe in god/a christian god/etc. a healthy deconstruction process can sometimes look like becoming an atheist or converting to another religion. it's all case by case. (note: i'm sure this happens with other religions as well, i'm just most familiar with christian versions of this phenomenon).

but in orel's case, his faith was one of the few things that actually brought him comfort and joy. he loved god, y'know? genuinely. and he felt loved by god and supported by him when he had no one else. and the abuses he faced were in how the people in his life twisted religion to control others, to run away from themselves, to shield them from others, etc. and often, orel's conflicts with how they acted out christianity come as a direct result of his purer understanding of god/jesus/whatever ("aren't we supposed to be like this/do that?" met with an adult's excuse for their own behavior or the fastest way they could think of to get orel to leave them alone (i.e. orel saying i thought we weren't supposed to lie? and clay saying uhhh it doesn't count if you're lying to yourself)). the little guy played catch with god instead of his dad, like.. his faith was real, and his love was real. and i think it's a good choice to have orel maintain something that was so important to him and such a grounding, comforting force in the midst of. All That Stuff Moralton Was Up To/Put Him Through. being all about jesus was not the problem, in orel's case.

and i know i'm mostly assuming that orel ended up in a healthier, less rigid version of christianity, but i feel like that's something that was hinted at a lot through the series, that that's the direction he'd go. when he meditates during the prayer bee and accepts stephanie's different way to communicate, incorporating elements of buddhism into his faith; when he has his I AM A CHURCH breakdown (removing himself from the institution and realizing he can be like,, the center of his own faith? taking a more individualistic approach? but Truly Going Through It at the same time), his acceptance (...sometimes) of those who are different from him and condemned by the adults of moralton (stephanie (lesbian icon stephanie my beloved), christina (who's like. just a slightly different form of fundie protestant from him), dr chosenberg (the jewish doctor from otherton in holy visage)). his track record on this isn't perfect, but it gets better as orel starts maturing and picking up on what an absolute shitfest moralton is. it's all ways of questioning the things he's been taught, and it makes sense that it would lead to a bigger questioning as he puts those pieces together more. anyway i think part of his growth is weeding out all the lost commandments of his upbringing and focusing on what faith means to him, and what he thinks it should mean. how he wants to see the world and how he wants to treat people and what he thinks is okay and right, and looking to religion for guidance in that, not as like. a way to justify hurting those he's afraid or resentful of, as his role models did.

he's coming to his own conclusions rather than obediently, unquestioningly taking in what others say. but he's still listening to pick out the parts that make sense to him. (edit/note: and it's his compassion and his faith that are the primary motivations for this questioning and revisal process, both of individual cases and, eventually, the final boss that is christianity.) it makes perfect sense as the conclusion to his character arc and it fits the overall approach of the show far better. it's good is what i'm saying.

and i think it's important to show that kind of ending, because that's a pretty common and equally valid result of deconstruction. and i think it cements the show's treatment of christianity as something that's often (and maybe even easily) exploited, but not something inherently bad. something that can be very positive, even. guys he even has a dog he's not afraid of loving anymore. he's not afraid of loving anyone more than jesus and i don't think it's because he loves this dog less than bartholomew (though he was probably far more desperate for healthy affection and companionship when he was younger). i think it's because he figures god would want him to love that dog. he's choosing to believe that god would want him to love and to be happy and to be kind. he's not afraid of loving in the wrong way do you know how cool that is he's taking back control he's taking back something he loves from his abusers im so normal

[strangeswift]

who up grieving their faded hyperfixations because there is unfortunately nothing that makes you enjoy living more than being hyperfixated on a good piece of media and now it’s just gone.

[venriliz]

why is the concept of showing empathy for drug/alcohol addicts so hard to understand for some ppl? v.v they suffer too sis, that problem has to come from somewhere and i bet most of them would rather not be addicted in the first place. some people don't know what nuance is i swear. am i crazy for having empathy with addicts??? i don't think so.

[frogayyyy]

just some ramblings on the rise of rebranded homophobia in relation to shipping and fandom etc (i watched lotr yesterday)

the way people will say "healthy friendships between men are important and we need representation!!!!" (this is true) in response to shipping as if there's an abundance of mlm relationships in media and yknow. homophobia hasn't existed??

“>:[ us men aren't allowed to be just friends anymore!!!! because of the homophobia!!!! that we created!!!!!!”

i've definitely seen this sentiment grow more again over the last few years as the number of canonical mlm relationships (often badly written or lacking any substance) increases.

before it was just a blatant "no homo" or something but it's now becoming a bit more subtle and "how dare you imply this character could be gay? do you hate men being friends?! go back to your handful of bland designated Gay Characters that we so generously gave you" from the same people who have spent years adding to the very same toxic masculinity and homophobia that stopped them from having deep and healthy friendships with other men in the first place. dare i say gaslighting?

(and just to be extra clear i am not talking about ace/aro people, or characters who are headcanoned as ace/aro, or qprs, etc. or even anyone interpreting a relationship as 'just' platonic. i'm only referring to that specific "no homo" kind of argument against shipping)

[loafofryebread]

stimming isn't enough I need to fly.

[chaotic-toby]

Idv rant time baby

When I first started playing the game, the first character I bought was Luca, and no matter how many other characters came out that I also fell in love with, I will forever love Luca. He is my favourite character in the entire game, and I personally, think he's a really good character (I might be biased).

Now, I know idv has meta characters and non meta characters, but in my honest opinion, all characters are good if used correctly and you have skill, I suppose. I don't believe in meta. I have never once played a character just bc they're meta.

Back when I first started playing idv, I always hear people saying that Luca was really good. He was a really good decoder and kiter bc he had no kiting debuffs like Tracy and Helena. But now, years later, I keep hearing people say that he's garbage and low tier. I try to not let that bother me bc everyone has their different opinion about the characters and I suppose my opinion on there being no meta essentially is not common, but it really does bother me a lot.

Call me chronically online or whatever, but I feel personally offended whenever someone calls Luca a garbage character. It doesn't help that I genuinely feel like I am him (I am mentally ill I know that) but he is not garbage.

Are there characters whose abilities make it easier to win? Yes. But you can win with any character as long as you know how to play them AND play the game. I am genuinely so sick of people calling characters awful and low tier just bc their abilities suck or whatever.

What's the fun in playing an "easy" character. In the end, even if you do play a meta character, you still need skill.

Tldr: Luca is meta bc I'm basically him and I say so (no one can change my mind)

[cruelsister-moved2]

like we are on our nine billionth positivity post for cis men with beards and masculine trans men and feminine lesbians and bi people in m/f relationships and nb people who are comfortable passing as their agab etc.... do we need more? is straight people not being able to tell you're gay/trans really the biggest issue facing lgbt people right now?

there seems to be this undiminishable reservoir of care and sympathy for the very idea of having ur queerness slighted in any context. meanwhile people who never get the choice whether or not to hide it are routinely dehumanised, othered, and ignored. if the issues facing these groups do get discussed it's almost never with much concern for their feelings. invalidation and erasure may be one of the issues facing lgbt people and it deserves attention too but I really don't think you can claim at this point that it isn't getting its fair share already.

for what it's worth, even your hypothetical most flaming butch lesbian/fem gay man/androgynous nb person etc still meets people who assume they're cishet, who even actively refuse to acknowledge that they're not. the false equivalence between erasure and overt prejudice alleged exclusively by those who largely experience only the former is in fact erasing the reality of people who experience both

[mitchievousness]

KazuRei Week Day 1 - Growing Old

when miri is fully grown and moves away from the family home, the papas move to the countryside and become the unofficial elder gays in the little village

[satoriberry]

complaining about radical feminism bc even though it has a lot of good points, a lot are also very bad part idk what!!!

what the fuck is up with radfems literally seething when they learn that a member of their ideology has a GASPPPPP boyfriend!!! even worse A HUSBAND???? and oh my god can you imagine!!! A CHILD!!!! like what the fuck?? and yes i knowwww its bc blah blah blah inspirations taken from the 4B thing that came out of china and south korea, where the fundamental principles of their feminism is not having any sort of relations with a man nor having any children with one because marriage is a patriarchal institution (when it's a hetero marriage), and giving birth will systematically subjugate a women as mothers ar every handicapped societally and aren't treated fairly.

see im not denying that straight marriage has some dicey elements and that moms get a LOTTTT of shit from society. but why is it that women are shamed for their heterosexuality when it's not something they can control?? like i'm sorry but if a lady wants to marry a dude and have children with him it's literally her choice and if she doesnt thats fine too?? like they start calling her "male-centered" and justify the criticism she's facing which is nuts bc what the fuck do you mean she's male-centered do you hear the words that come out of your mouth?? what the fuck do you mean straight women need to be critical of their attraction to men!!! my brother why are you creating comphet 2.0 but for straight women!!!! this idea that women will be defiled with patriarchy germs if they come into any sort of romantic/sexual contact with a man genuinely feels like the flipside of purity culture but for "feminist" reasons and also it's like the cousin of political lesbianism which is the antithesis of "sexual orientation is uncontrollable".

"participating in male culture" and it's having a boyfriend BE FOR REAL!!! this is such a western concept to me as well bc in many eastern cultures young women have like little to no say when they're faced with the prospect of arranged marriage, and so the fact that you degenerates are complaining about VOLUNTARY marriage in modern societies whereas young girls in other countries don't have that kind of choice is!!! insane!!!! i have so much more to say about this but that's enough for today ig :333

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

do you have heart palpitations over a puppet or are you normal

[cosmic-ships]

Tells the woman I can be ready to leave at the end of the month.

She wakes up early (as she often does)

Throws away all of my food

👌 fucking n i c e /s

[steakout-05]

he is not amused.....

[mejomonster]

As I get older and older I more tangibly realize why queer individuals in older generations than mine might prefer words I wouldn't use for myself, and likewise why younger generations preferences would be different too. Like it was always clear you know, a person knows their identity best and what labels they prefer best and even if you don't get it you should respect it. But I guess the older I get the more I realize I really don't know and never can know the background another person has for their perceptions and meaning for labels and why something in particular helps them to use or not

[vanana-r0tat3]

ok im petty. gentle reminder that im gay, im a gay man. if you have a problem with me shipping men together thats on you

apparently people took issue with me saying i see two male friends and always want to ship them? im literally gay its in my bio, i just like shipping my silly old men together because it brings me comfort, i will not apologize for that

[troublewithvampires-a]

@bxtsence said: 1 (sexuality asks)

(sexuality asks - open)

what do you label your muse as, and how do they label themselves? is there a difference, and if so, why?

//thank you for asking this one, because this is one i actually was kinda hoping to talk about, haha!

so, i label salvatore as a polyamorous greyromantic bisexual trans man (i did originally list him as pan, but i think bi vibes a bit more with him specifically as a label, but honestly i'm not really gonna get into all of that right now because to me personally the minutiae doesn't matter too much. point is, he's attracted to all genders.)

sal labels himself, however, as nothing. he doesn't use any labels for himself for the most part, and in fact he barely understands what any queer labels actually mean. i think he'd call himself queer eventually after he comes to accept himself a lot more down the line, and he may even finally actually consider himself transsexual, but until then if you ask him he'll probably say, "what are you, a cop?"

and this is a bit twofold for salvatore in my intentions. for one thing, i love writing a queer character who doesn't know *shit*. i was joking with a friend recently that there's a good chance that salvatore, at least for a time, thought he was the first and only trans man to exist. that's how much he doesn't know shit. like characters who know themselves super well are all fine and dandy, but i think it's interesting to have a character who doesn't know how to put words to his experiences.

and my other thought is that salvatore gets to be the reflection of the part of me that's kinda tired of trying to label every part of my queer experience. to be clear, there is *nothing* wrong with having a lot of labels or microlabels or anything like that. at the end of the day, if the label serves you and your experiences, that's what matters.

but like........ i'm kinda tired, y'all. part of me likes to joke about being a label hoarder and that's fun, but i'm also like. i just kinda wanna be Just Some Guy. my gender is both complicated and simple and so is my orientation, and sal can be like that too. for me personally, it's not really that useful to stress about finding the perfect labels to define me. i'm just a guy! i'm here, i'm queer, and i'm just a guy.

guess what i'm trying to say is. oh he's just like me fr.